The role of the sun in the celestial compass of dung beetles.
(2014) In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 369(1636).- Abstract
- Recent research has focused on the different types of compass cues available to ball-rolling beetles for orientation, but little is known about the relative precision of each of these cues and how they interact. In this study, we find that the absolute orientation error of the celestial compass of the day-active dung beetle Scarabaeus lamarcki doubles from 16° at solar elevations below 60° to an error of 29° at solar elevations above 75°. As ball-rolling dung beetles rely solely on celestial compass cues for their orientation, these insects experience a large decrease in orientation precision towards the middle of the day. We also find that in the compass system of dung beetles, the solar cues and the skylight cues are used together and... (More)
- Recent research has focused on the different types of compass cues available to ball-rolling beetles for orientation, but little is known about the relative precision of each of these cues and how they interact. In this study, we find that the absolute orientation error of the celestial compass of the day-active dung beetle Scarabaeus lamarcki doubles from 16° at solar elevations below 60° to an error of 29° at solar elevations above 75°. As ball-rolling dung beetles rely solely on celestial compass cues for their orientation, these insects experience a large decrease in orientation precision towards the middle of the day. We also find that in the compass system of dung beetles, the solar cues and the skylight cues are used together and share the control of orientation behaviour. Finally, we demonstrate that the relative influence of the azimuthal position of the sun for straight-line orientation decreases as the sun draws closer to the horizon. In conclusion, ball-rolling dung beetles possess a dynamic celestial compass system in which the orientation precision and the relative influence of the solar compass cues change over the course of the day. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4291974
- author
- Dacke, Marie LU ; el Jundi, Basil LU ; Smolka, Jochen LU ; Byrne, Marcus and Baird, Emily LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- orientation, solar compass, polarized light, dung beetle, vision, navigation
- in
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- volume
- 369
- issue
- 1636
- article number
- 20130036
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:24395963
- wos:000332465800005
- scopus:84891635740
- pmid:24395963
- ISSN
- 1471-2970
- DOI
- 10.1098/rstb.2013.0036
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 02d893a6-7467-404a-926e-ce9723b0be46 (old id 4291974)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:16:49
- date last changed
- 2022-04-05 01:29:24
@article{02d893a6-7467-404a-926e-ce9723b0be46,
abstract = {{Recent research has focused on the different types of compass cues available to ball-rolling beetles for orientation, but little is known about the relative precision of each of these cues and how they interact. In this study, we find that the absolute orientation error of the celestial compass of the day-active dung beetle Scarabaeus lamarcki doubles from 16° at solar elevations below 60° to an error of 29° at solar elevations above 75°. As ball-rolling dung beetles rely solely on celestial compass cues for their orientation, these insects experience a large decrease in orientation precision towards the middle of the day. We also find that in the compass system of dung beetles, the solar cues and the skylight cues are used together and share the control of orientation behaviour. Finally, we demonstrate that the relative influence of the azimuthal position of the sun for straight-line orientation decreases as the sun draws closer to the horizon. In conclusion, ball-rolling dung beetles possess a dynamic celestial compass system in which the orientation precision and the relative influence of the solar compass cues change over the course of the day.}},
author = {{Dacke, Marie and el Jundi, Basil and Smolka, Jochen and Byrne, Marcus and Baird, Emily}},
issn = {{1471-2970}},
keywords = {{orientation; solar compass; polarized light; dung beetle; vision; navigation}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1636}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
title = {{The role of the sun in the celestial compass of dung beetles.}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0036}},
doi = {{10.1098/rstb.2013.0036}},
volume = {{369}},
year = {{2014}},
}